Ah, the motivational roller coaster...

[Tom]

I get up at 4:45, suck down a couple of beakers of warm Drano and grimly head into the gloaming for the morning ride. I don't really want to go but a day missed is an opportunity lost so away I am.

I get home and don't really want to get off the bike.

I drive in to work thinking how nice a day it is and how it would be perfect to turn around, go home, get back on the bike and ride until late afternoon.

[george]

"Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike." It is your motivational juice; your mojo; your lifeline. Keep it real, :) keep on doing it.

[Ginger]

After a long layoff in my commuting by bike, yesterday I woke up at 5am did all the last minute prep for my commute, got on the bike and rode the first 6 miles with lights. The day started to be wonderful when the sky lightened a bit. Then I looked up towards my destination and all I could see were black clouds and a wall of lightning. I turned around and rode home dry. The storm broke over the house while I was in the shower. After the rain the day cleared and I did a fast evening ride with a friend.

Next week...I'll start commuting again next week.

[spiderman]

Then I looked up towards my destination and all I could see were black clouds and a wall of lightning.

so, i did the same thing yesterday...
dark clouds, smelled like rain...
but i put on my showers pass jacket
and decided to ride anyway.
about midway it started to pour
and the lightning was pretty intense.
everyone in the office was stunned
that i rode in lightning...
so how unsafe is it...
...really??

[fiamme red]

I get up at 4:45, suck down a couple of beakers of warm Drano and grimly head into the gloaming for the morning ride. I don't really want to go but a day missed is an opportunity lost so away I am.

I get home and don't really want to get off the bike.

I drive in to work thinking how nice a day it is and how it would be perfect to turn around, go home, get back on the bike and ride until late afternoon.Can you commute by bike?

[Tom]

Can I commute?

Yes, sort of and no.

Yes: It's 18 miles one way the bike way in. (Directly it's shorter but I-90's hairy as hell on a bicycle.)

Sort of: My job requires me to use the company laptop for support (paranoid security reasons) so I drag it back and forth and we have those 45 pound Thinkpad T30s. The weight's good training but they'd get slightly cheesed if I fall off my bike and trash the thing.

No: High Command thinks the suburban roads aren't safe. I don't tell her about coming down 160 at 49mph when I go the Mariaville loop before work.

[Fixed]

Bro I bet you guys are sad to see summer go, I'll miss ridin till 8:00 with day light .I am lookin forward to cooler temps. :beer:

[Needs Help]

everyone in the office was stunned
that i rode in lightning...
so how unsafe is it...
...really??
It's as unsafe as it can get short of standing on top of the highest peak with a golf club extended towards the heavens. If a car is struck by lightening, the electricity will conduct through the metal surrounding you and then discharge into the ground. On a bike, if you are struck, you will be severely injured or killed.

However, I imagine driving a car in a rain storm is statistically more dangerous than riding a bike in a rainstorm. There is probably a higher percentage of people that are killed in cars sliding around on wet roads than cyclists getting run over or struck by lightning.

[Ginger]

I've commuted through lightning storms before. I'm often less worried about the lightning (although I do take cover) than I am about the drivers and the distinct lack of visibility when the skys really open up and dump water.

The ride *to* work is a 17 mile false flat...I had warmed up and hit a comfortable slog speed it just wasn't the day to do it and sometimes I've found it best to listen to myself on days like that.